Five advantages PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale has over Super Smash Bros.

Ever since its announcement a few weeks ago prior to the Electronic Entertainment Expo, people have had mixed opinions about Sony’s PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale, which is being worked on over at Superbot Entertainment. On the one hand, it looks to be an exciting party-based fighter for up to four players. On the other, many think it follows Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. formula a little too closely, with all the light, medium and heavy strikes, as well as the supers.

But is it really a game that can’t outperform Nintendo’s popular multiplayer fighting franchise? We think it stands a better chance than you might expect, and we’ve compiled five primary reasons why we feel that way. Now, we didn’t bow down to the obvious, like “because Kratos and Big Daddy are in it”. We feel these are logical reasons, ones that will really work in favor for All Stars when it releases later this year. Let’s go!

More Unpredictability In the Backgrounds

We’ve got no beef with the settings that are provided in the Super Smash Bros. games, especially the F-Zero one where cars go running all over the opponents, or the Metroid Prime one where the lava unexpectedly rises up. But PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale’s locations are far more unpredictable when it comes to keeping an eye on things. For instance, in Ratchet’s Metropolis, the serpents from God of War come bursting out of the water, snapping up at anyone in a moment’s notice. Then there’s the LittleBigPlanet stage that inadvertently turns into a Buzz! quiz show, where standing on the wrong answer could cost you some energy. And we haven’t even seen all the settings the game has to offer yet. Keep those fingers crossed for an Uncharted level with runaway jeeps – courtesy of Sully, obviously.

Online Play Is Sure To Be Much More Convenient

Nintendo was wise to include online play in Super Smash Bros. Brawl for Wii, but it’s hardly the most convenient system out there. While it is possible to hop into quick matches, playing against friends online requires registering those pesky Friend Codes. However, with PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale on both Vita and PS3, Sony should have a set-up where you’ll be able to jump into fights and get into the action with anyone on your friend list. Don’t forget the local options either – and the fact you won’t need to hold a Wii remote sideways or weird retro pad to feel like you’re brawling.

No Cheap Ring Outs

As much as we enjoy a match of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, there’s nothing more infuriating than being knocked out of the ring and losing a life as a result, or stumbling off the edge of a stage and collapsing to your death. We HATE that. So, with PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale, Superbot resolved the problem by having all the arenas enclosed, so the fights can keep going, even on the lower levels. Yeah, that does remove some of the unpredictability, but it does keep the fighting flowing – and that’s what’s important, yes?

Cross-Play Will Really Open Up Competitive Play On Both PS3 and Vita

Bringing up Cross-Play again, and for good reason. The fact is, from what we’ve seen at E3 a few weeks back, both versions of PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale, for PlayStation 3 and Vita, will be virtually identical, even in performance. That’s a staggering feat for such an action-packed fighting game, and one that’s bound to be a huge feature, as players on either system can engage in combat, without having to worry about any limitations or patches. That’s a big deal, especially since Nintendo doesn’t have a portable version that allows link-up to the console editions of Smash Bros. Yet, anyway. And that leads to the fifth and final reason…

We Won’t See the Next Super Smash Bros. For Some Time

This may not be the most ideal reason on the list, but it’s truth. While PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale thrives with its beat-em-up action later this year, Wii U and 3DS owners will have…um…nothing, really. Well, there’s obviously other games, but when it comes to fighting action, they’ll have to go back to the original Wii, or maybe another Smash Bros. game instead. And the fact is, while a new one IS in the works (with the help of Namco Bandai, a recently announced partner), we won’t see it for at least another year or so. It’s sure to be worth the wait, but some folks just don’t have that kind of patience. And thus, All Stars enters the picture.

What do you think? Do you feel these are valid reasons? Or do you have your own to add? Sound off!